Hepato Cellular Carcinoma in Sub-Saharan Black African Women

Abstract

Although the occurrence of hepato cellular carcinoma in Sub-Saharan Black African males has been reasonably fully documented relatively little information on the characteristics of the tumor in Black African females has hitherto been published. There has also been a tendency to under-estimate the occurrence of the tumor in this population. Nevertheless, the incidence of hepato cellular carcinoma in Black African women is appreciably lower than that in Black African men with an average incidence of 1.0:3.4. Black African women with his tumor are generally older than Black African men with hepato cellular carcinoma, with a mean age of 51.0 years and a range of 16 to 80 years in comparison with a mean age of 33.4 years and 50% of the male patients being younger than 30 years of age. The symptoms and physical signs of hepato cellular carcinoma do not differ significantly between females and males. Black African women have a similar rate of chronic hepatitis B virus infection as Black African men excluding this etiologic agent as the explanation for the lower rate of the tumor in women. Black women are as likely as Black men to develop hepatitis C virus and aflatoxin B 1 -induced hepato cellular carcinoma. However, dietary iron overload which plays an important role in the causation of the tumor in rural black African men plays a very much lesser role in Black African women.